RODNEY HAKIM

ACTOR/DIRECTOR

SHAKESPEARE APOCRYPHA

Shakespeare's plays are usually divided into four main categories; Comedies, Tragedies, Histories, and Romances.  Some editors opt for three categories, clumping the comedies and romances into one group.  Others go in the opposite direction and add a fifth category called the Problem Plays, in which they insert the plays that don't quite fit neatly into the four primary molds.  Regardless, few collections make reference to yet another category of Shakespeare's plays, the Apocrypha.

The Apocrypha is a collection of plays that have been claimed to be written by Shakespeare, but which most scholars and editors believe were not.   The general consensus among scholars is that the Apocryphal plays were plays to which Shakespeare contributed a couple of scenes or lines, at the most , but which for the most part, he did not write.  Shakespeare had become a very popular playwright in the 1600's, so his name (or even his initials) was often tacked on to plays to help bolster ticket sales.    Apocryphal plays, of which there are nearly thirty, include Cardenio, Fair Em, and A Yorkshire Tragedy.

The issue of which plays are Apocryphal and which plays are truly Shakespeare's is debatable, and has been a hot-button issue among Shakespeareans in recent times.  Currently, there are 38 plays that are commonly accepted as truly belonging to Shakespeare.  One of those plays, Two Noble Kinsmen, is highly controversial, as it is classified by many as a Problem Play (but still one of the 38 that are really Shakespeare's), while others insist that it is Apocryphal.  Another controversial play is Edward III, which has long been considered Apocryphal, but which has recently gained acceptance by most editors as a true Shakespeare play.  If we go ahead and categorize those two plays as Apocryphal, we then have 36 plays that are definitely Shakespeare's.  Kind of.

Many other plays that are commonly accepted as being Shakespeare's, such as Henry VIII and All's Well that Ends Well, have entire scenes or even acts that are thought by scholars to have been written by other playwrights, but which are still considered to be authentic Shakespeare plays.  It's not just the obscure History plays or Problem plays; there are even chunks of  Macbeth and The Taming of the Shrew that scholars believe to be interpolations.   We won't even get into into the mechanics of how the plays were written and recorded, and the differences between Shakespeare's "fair" and "foul papers," or the Quarto and Folio editions of the plays as opposed to the versions of the plays we know today.  The more we delve into these issues, the more problematic things become.

Suffice it to say that the question of which plays can really be considered Shakespeare's and which are Apocryphal is even further complicated by the larger question of whether Shakespeare was really Shakespeare.  There has been a growing debate about whether William Shakespeare really wrote his own plays, or if "Shakespeare" was the nom de plum of other Elizabethan playwrights.  Some theories suggest that the plays we currently attribute to Shakespeare were really written by Queen Elizabeth, the Earl of Oxford (Edward DeVere), the mysteriously murdered Christopher Marlowe, and/or various others.   Each theory offers its own body of evidence, some being stronger than others.

Ultimately, these questions can never be definitively answered, as there's no absolute proof that tells us who really wrote Shakespeare's plays, or which ones are absolutely Shakespeare's and which are only tangentially connected to him.  It's a fascinating subject, and one that is perhaps best approached by performing the plays, and letting the audiences determine which ones should stand the test of time.

Check back soon for a complete list of Shakespeare's plays, and for reference information about the Apocrypha and the Shakespearean authorship debate.

© 2008 Rodney Hakim